Wow. Not having to write this newsletter over the weekend was a nice break. But we’re back at it today!

You’d have thought that would give me the time to write a high quality newsletter that goes out on time, but… oops. We’re a bit late on this one. Sue me. I was playing Draw Steel until 10:11 pm. It’s fine, the CK email was sent out over the course of two hours, I get a little bit of leeway.

Quyen and the AMS

With the campaign finally done, I figured I’d take some time to reflect on it because it’s been an absolutely wild time. For this newsletter, I’ll just give a little bit of a breakdown of the timeline between my first AMS Council meeting and deciding to run as Barry “Bee” Buzzword.

First Encounters with the AMS

I first got caught into the whirlpool that is the AMS in February of 2023, when students went out to speak against various schenaniganery regarding adding trans healthcare to our health and dental plan.

I spoke at that meeting, and from there, I continued to go to the subsequent AMS Council meeting (even when schenanigans were not afoot).

2023 AMS Elections

Once the elections rolled around in March, I went to all of them. Which was frankly, a hilarious experience. I noticed that many candidates were saying the same things using the same words and often had no idea what they were talking about (hardly a novel realization).

Shout out to the candidates who said we should hold events in the sensory rooms, rename the Pit to the David Suzuki Pit for Sustainability, straight up didn’t know that police violence was a thing, and ummmm… quoted the greatest American president Ronald Reagan.

Anyways, I took notes on all of these debates—as I had been for the council meetings. You know for personal use. Like a nerd. Fun fact, right now, these notes number over 100k words :).

More Council Times (2023-2024)

We kept going to the ol’ council meetings and kept taking notes. Lots of spicy things happened, like PC1/PC2 revision being up for approval, PC1/PC2 revision being up for approval, PC1/PC2 revision being up for approval, PC1/PC2 revision being up for approval, PC1/PC2 revision finally being approved, our elected president being replaced by the person who lost the election, security guard action starting at AMS Council, an attempt to deconstitute the SJC, a stop to the attempt to deconstitute the SJC, referendum gate, and so much more fun.

Throughout all of this, I was still taking notes in the back, filling out our Buzzword Bendus. Or sitting outside the room for all the copious and length in camera sessions. After a year like this one, it’s hard not to come up with your fair share of criticisms for the AMS.

Anyways, a bunch of people started telling me that I’d actually be a really good President. Which… terrifying. I obviously would do no such thing as try to actually be AMS President. But a joke candidate… I could do that and not absolutely hate myself.

Elections Again

More elections happened. Frankly, way less funny than the year prior. And the designated joke candidate was “also not a particularly silly one,” according to the Ubyssey’s guide to the candidates that year.

Because I’m hilarious, around this time I also checked if ubussy.ca was available. And it was! For only $13 a year. What a steal. I figured if it was still available in a year, I’d have to do something really funny with it. (If you don’t know why ubussy.ca is funny, google “bussy”).

I Noodle for Many Months

I think about potentially running as a joke candidate for many many months. I’m not sure exactly when, but I come up with the name Barry “Bee” Buzzword. Which—dare I say—an amazing name. (when it was read out at the all candidates meeting, multiple people laughed. So yay me). I’ve been missing my one-term stint as a theatre kid in high school, so I do in fact what to joke candidate it up pretty badly. I plan a bunch of Barry “Bee” Buzzword debate bits (that honestly I never used because playing off /u/sasamats was a million times better).

Over the year, I continue going to council meetings (but not every council meeting). Believe it or not, more shenanigans happen in AMS Council this year, including 3 executives leaving office through various means. Which uhhh… shouldn’t be normal.

Elections Season

We did it. Even though I almost didn’t get enough signatures because I’m an anxious lil guy. I spend the ol’ reading break making a shitty little website for ubussy.ca and away we go.

Other News

Reddit

I’ve liked not posting on Reddit. Honestly I’m still gonna have Reddit anxiety for the next few days, but after that, I think I’ll be free of it.

This Newsletter

Here’s the deal for this newsletter: I’m going to keep doing it but I can’t do it every day. Because that was brutal. Instead, I’m going to go for a twice-weekly publishing schedule on Sundays and Wednesdays. Still at circa 10:03 pm (unless I’m late like today, oops). After a couple weeks, I’ll reassess whether this is still something fun to do and if the pace is working for me. But yeah, you should get another newsletter on Wednesday!

From the Archive

I’m not including a photo because I respect you all too much, but in the 1994 Pride issue of The Ubyssey, they SEWED SOMEONE’S MOUTH SHUT FOR THE COVER. With like an actual needle and thread. Piercing their lips. With a needle. I think this is wild.

But also I don’t watch R-rated movies because I’m worried there’s gonna be too much blood. (probably why Riley got more votes than me :/).

That’s All!

A little bit on the shorter side, but it’s like that sometimes. At least it got out :D. And it is very poorly edited, but honestly, that is the standard for these emails (modelled after the OG one from the current President). Honestly, tonight’s newsletter is short because I cut the announcement of something else that I thought would be out by now. But that’s okay. Hopefully y’all can see that next email.

Until Wednesday at 10:03 pm, buzz on, my busy bees!